Interpretation

"carrier" means a person who harbours, and who may disseminate, a specific infectious agent in the absence of discernible clinical disease;

"communicable disease" means an illness, due to a specific infectious agent or its toxic products, which arises through the transmission of that agent or its product

(a) directly from an infected person or animal, or

(b) indirectly through the agency of an intermediate host vector or the inanimate environment;

"epidemic" means an occurrence of a disease within a community or region in excess of normal expectancy;

"infectious agent" means an organism capable of producing an infection or infectious disease;

"isolation" means the separation, for the period of communicability of the disease, of an infected person or animal from others in a place and under conditions to prevent the conveyance of the infectious agent to those others;

"laboratory" means a medical or clinical diagnostic facility, and for the purposes of section 2 (3) includes the Animal Health Centre, Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, Abbotsford, British Columbia;

"physician" means a duly qualified medical practitioner;

"quarantine" means the limitation of freedom of movement of a susceptible person or domestic animal, suspected of being or known to have been exposed to a communicable disease, for a period of time equal to the longest usual incubation period of that disease from the last date of exposure;

Reportable disease

2(1) Repealed. [B.C. Reg. 49/2009, s. 2 (b).]

(2) Where a physician knows or suspects that an animal or another person is suffering from or has died from a communicable disease, he shall, without delay and in accordance with section 4, make a report to the medical health officer if the disease

(a) is listed in Schedule A, or

(b) becomes epidemic or shows unusual features.

(3) Where a person in charge of a laboratory knows or suspects, as a result of analysis, examination or tests of or on a specimen, that an animal or another person is suffering from or has died from a communicable disease listed in Schedule B, he shall, within 7 days and in accordance with section 4, make a report to the medical health officer.

(4) The medical health officer shall forward a report received under this section, within 7 days of receiving it, to the Provincial health officer or a person designated by the Provincial health officer, together with any further information requested by the Provincial health officer or a person designated by the Provincial health officer.

(5) A report required to be made without delay shall be made by telephone or by any similar rapid means of communication.

(6) For the purposes of subsection (4), the Provincial health officer may

(a) designate a person to receive the report and to request and receive any further information on his or her behalf,

(b) give directions to the designated person respecting the use and further disclosure of the report and of any requested further information, and

(c) without limiting the purposes for which the report and any further information were collected,

(i) authorize the designated person to use the report and any further information to conduct or facilitate research into health issues, and

(ii) limit or put conditions on that authorization.

[am. B.C. Regs. 49/2009, s. 2 (b); 330/2010, s. 2.]

Reports by hospital

3In addition to the requirements of section 2, the administrator or other person in charge of a hospital shall, within 7 days, make a report to the medical health officer respecting a patient admitted to the hospital who is suffering from a reportable communicable disease or from rheumatic fever.

Contents of report

4(1) A report made under section 2 (2) shall include

(a) the name of the disease,

(b) the name, age, sex and address of the infected person, and

(c) appropriate details if the disease reported is epidemic or shows unusual features.

(2) A report made under section 2 (3) shall include

(a) the name of the disease,

(b) the name and address of the person from whom the specimen was taken, and

(c) the name and address of the physician or other person who is or has been attending the person referred to in paragraph (b).

(3) A report made under section 3 shall include

(a) the name of the disease,

(b) the name, age, sex and address of the patient, and

(c) the name and address of the physician or other person who is or has been attending the patient.

(4) All reports referred to in this section shall include any further relevant information requested by the medical health officer.

(5) A report made under section 2 (2) or (3) or 3 respecting a person who voluntarily submitted to testing for Human Immunodeficiency Virus must omit the name and address of the person if that person so chooses.

[am. B.C. Reg. 62/2003, s. (b).]

Report of action taken

5Where a physician, who knows or suspects that a person is infected with a reportable communicable disease, orders isolation or quarantine under this regulation, he shall immediately notify the medical health officer of the action taken.

Verification of reports

6The medical health officer shall verify all reports that a person is infected with a reportable communicable disease before ordering or continuing isolation, quarantine or any other control measures respecting that person.

Repealed

6.1Repealed. [B.C. Reg. 330/2010, s. 3.]

Index patient

6.2(1) In this section:

"index patient" means a person known or suspected to be suffering from, or who has died from, a communicable disease;

"relevant information" includes any information that may, directly or indirectly, identify the index patient.

(2) Despite section 4 (5),

(a) a physician who reasonably believes that another person may be at risk of harm from an index patient may provide any relevant information to the medical health officer, and

(b) on receiving information from a physician under paragraph (a), the medical health officer may

(i) request further relevant information from the physician,

(ii) require the index patient to undergo further examination and to provide further relevant information, and

(iii) disclose to any person who may be at risk of harm any relevant information the medical health officer feels necessary to address the harm or to prevent further harm.

[en. B.C. Reg. 62/2003, s. (c); am. B.C. Reg. 330/2010, s. 4.]

West Nile Virus testing disclosure

6.3(1) The Provincial Health Officer may direct the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control to disclose relevant personal information identifying the source of blood samples being tested for West Nile Virus at its laboratory to the Canadian Blood Services agency.

(2) The Provincial Health Officer must authorize the disclosure of information in subsection (1) for use only by the Canadian Blood Services agency

(a) to determine whether it had received a donation of blood from those persons and to suspend distribution of that donated blood pending the results of laboratory analysis, and

(b) to determine whether it had provided those persons with donated blood.